Latin for Gardeners: October 2025

Latin for Gardeners
October’s Native Maryland Plant

Aralia spinosa L.
(ah-RAY-lee-ah spih-NO-sah)
Common Name: Devil’s Walking Stick, Prickly Elder

Anyone visiting one of the many trails in Maryland’s deciduous forests in late summer and early fall, is certain to see a remarkable plant lighting up the woodland with its massive plumes of flowers – the highly thorny and very tall shrub, Aralia spinosa, commonly known as the Devil’s Walking Stick. Its blooms can be enjoyed from a distance; they appear as clusters of floating clouds and yet, upon closer inspection, they are inflorescence of 5-petaled creamy white flowers, teeming with pollinators, a wondrous sight to behold.

Aralia spinosa is known for its extremely prickly branches and petioles, its bark and roots can cause skin irritation, putting it on the short list of native plants to ‘look at, but don’t touch’. It’s a notable plant in other ways as well - its leaves can reach up to 4’ long, giving it the distinction of having the largest compound (1) leaf in North American temperate forests. As the forest fills in, the occurrence of A. spinosa will decline, it’s shade intolerant so it is most often seen along forest edges.

Although people may want to avoid getting too close to Aralia spinosa, that is not the case for wildlife. This plant has high wildlife value - its flowers and fruit provide food for pollinators, birds and mammals. Deer may browse the leaves, but they aren’t known to favor this plant.

There are plenty of things to scare you in October, don’t let the Devil’s Walking Stick be one of them!

(1) Consists of multiple small leaflets that are physically separated from one another, all of them are attached to the same rachis (main axis). Together they create one leaf.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7/Anne Arundel Tree Trooper
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)
aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: September 2025

Latin for Gardeners
September’s Native Maryland Plant

Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash
(skiz-ah-KEER-ee-um sko-PAR-ee-um)
Common Name: Little Bluestem

Get ready for it! The changing of the seasons brings about some of the finest displays of color in nature.  As we move from summer to fall, many plants will turn deep red, purple, orange or yellow.  Others, like Little Bluestem, will change to a more subtle reddish tan, providing a calming effect when planted in drifts, as in the Delaware Botanic Garden, a fabulous place to observe the changing of the seasons. 

However, as watershed stewards, we know it’s not about looks when choosing what to plant.  How a plant functions and fits our site conditions is a more important consideration. Is it providing value to our watershed?  In the case of Schizachyrium scoparium, the answer is a resounding, yes!  In fact, Little Bluestem is used in many stormwater best-management practices (BMPs).  It has an extensive and fibrous root system that can reach over 5’, making it drought tolerant and good for erosion control.  It’s excellent at stabilizing slopes and at filtering runoff, improving water quality. Its heat tolerance makes it useful along driveways or in parking lot islands where access to water is difficult or non-existent.  It’s a low-maintenance grass; unlike a lawn, it requires no fertilizer and only a single pruning in late winter or early spring to look its best in a home or community landscape.  

By itself, Schizachyrium scoparium is an attractive grass that can serve many functions.  Its ability to grow in poor soil conditions makes it one of the most widely occurring grasses in the U.S.   It may come as no surprise that it is native to all but four states (California, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada). The cultivar, ‘Standing Ovation’, is found at most nurseries, and is known for its wider, red tipped blades, and a more upright habit in improved soil conditions.

Planting it alone is common but there are also many native perennials that can serve as excellent companion plants to Little Bluestem.  It is often used to provide a soft contrast to the seedheads of coneflower and other native perennials.  It’s a common prairie plant so most native plants that can tolerate dry, full sun sites can make a good companion – it does especially well in sandy soil.  S. scoparium is a native grass that “is least adapted to growing in close proximity to broad leaved species1”; planting among shrubs would not be the most effective use of this grass.

What about supporting life? There’s a lot to tell there too.  Little Bluestem is host to 9 skipper butterflies. And the small tuft at the base of S. scoparium provides cover, nesting material and sometimes a home for ground nesting birds. And to top it off, the fluffy, white seedheads that form on its spikelets provide winter food for overwintering birds like finch, grosbeak, and towhees. 

I’ll admit, the fact that it has lovely summer and fall color is, indeed, a great feature of this plant, but there’s a long list of other reasons to use it in your garden too.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7/Anne Arundel Tree Trooper
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)
aligmilligan@gmail.com

Director of Education and Community Engagement Gaby Roffe's Letter to Stewards

Hello Stewards,

I am so excited to be stepping into this role with the Watershed Stewards Academy community. My career has been shaped by a deep belief that everyone deserves meaningful access to nature and a voice in shaping the places we call home. Over the past 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside partners such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, Chesapeake Conservancy, Friends of Acadia National Park, and the George Washington University School of Engineering. I’ve also been fortunate to collaborate with community-led initiatives in South Baltimore, including work at Masonville Cove – the nation’s first Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership – and with the South Baltimore Community Land Trust. Across each of these experiences, my focus has been the same: building partnerships that expand access to public lands, elevate underrepresented voices, and strengthen community resilience.

Some of the work I am most proud of includes launching the Bilingual Ranger Program with NPS and Maryland State Parks, designing equity-centered trainings for mission-driven nonprofits across the country, guiding strategic planning for Friends of Acadia and GWU Engineering, and facilitating community-driven projects in South Baltimore. Along the way, I’ve also been honored to serve as a Chesapeake Regional Environmental Leadership Program Fellow and to share my work at conferences such as the Chesapeake Watershed Forum and Naturally Latinos. Whether supporting national public lands programs, higher education initiatives, or grassroots environmental justice work, I’ve sought to create spaces where more people feel seen, valued, and connected to the truth that we are nature, and that caring for our world is caring for ourselves and each other.

What excites me most about joining WSA is the chance to bring this experience closer to home, in service of you, the Stewards. This network has an incredible legacy of creativity, leadership, and care for our local watersheds. My goal is to nurture collaboration and creativity as you continue shaping healthier, more resilient communities.

Best, always,
Gaby Roffe

Latin for Gardeners: August 2025

Latin for Gardeners
August’s Native Maryland Plant

Eutrochium fistulosum (Barratt) E. E. Lamont
(yoo-TRO-kee-um fist-yoo-LOW-sum)

Common Name: Trumpetweed, Hollow Joe-Pye-Weed

Some plants just amaze you when you’re in their presence - Trumpetweed is one of those plants. It’s a staggeringly tall plant that towers over observers and almost any neighboring perennial or shrub. With many weeks left before the end of summer, Trumpetweed is still going strong, its long bloom period is another of its awesome features. The mauve to purple flowers sit atop hollow but robust stems – the stems lack the spots that are found on a related plant, Spotted Joe-Pye-Weed (Eutrochium maculatum), and are one of the ways to differentiate the two species.

Eutrochium species, in general, are magnificent at attracting butterflies due to their abundant nectar and wide, flat flower heads that offer a stable landing pad. They’re an excellent alternative to the invasive Butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.) since they not only supply nectar, but as we’ve learned from Dr. Doug Tallamy (1) , they “also provide food for the larvae of more than three dozen species of Lepidoptera.” The plight of butterflies has been in the news for some time but a recent study underscores just how dire the situation has become. This research was focused on butterflies, but we know moths and other pollinators are similarly suffering dramatic losses. Planting host plants, lots of host plants, is one way to help reverse this trend - reducing the use of pesticides is another.

The height of Eutrochium spp. can be intimidating to most gardeners – do not be afraid. There are many smart methods you can use to add this species to your garden. Below are just a few of the ways to keep the plant upright, if this is one of your concerns. There are also cultivars of some of the other already shorter Eutrochium species that may be more acceptable to gardeners. E.g. Eutrochium dubium ‘Little Joe’.

The history of this plant’s common name, Joe Pye Weed, has long been discussed, with several different stories describing its origin. Interestingly, in 2017, two scholars did their research and published a paper in the Great Lakes Botanist journal. They established that the plant was likely named for Joseph Shauquethqueat, an esteemed Mohican sachem, known to his white neighbors as Joe-Pye. Having spent my youth in New England, the original home to the Mohegans (often confused with the Mohicans), I am somewhat familiar with this Hudson River Valley (present-day Eastern New York and western Massachusetts) tribe and their place in history.

I’m wondering, since many botanical names have been changed due to modern DNA analysis, including this genus, Eutrochium (2) , would there be any objection to changing the common name from Joe-Pye-Weed, to Shauquethqueat, thus removing the ‘weed’ and providing a more accurate provenance for this remarkable species?

(1) ‘Bringing Nature Home’, Doug Tallamy

(2) Known previously as Eupatorium fistulosum. Bonesets which have opposite leaves are still Eupatorium spp.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7/Anne Arundel Tree Trooper
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)
aligmilligan@gmail.com